“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” – Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens sums 2020 up well with the quote above. Indeed the best and worst of times, 2020. The full quote from A Tale of Two Cities is pertinent to this year and the last ten years in respect to the world and politics:
“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” Dickens A Tale of Two Cities
Pandemics, political divide, citizen divide, and false news was spreading on social media. Maybe this was a book I read; nope, it was 2020. Much like the divide of the French Revolution, 2020 was a divisive year.
Sure, the year started well; we were excited at my company about new growth in new markets, personal goals were concrete, excitement all around. I started the year traveling to Dallas for a roofing products trade show and Torrey Pines (San Diego, California) for a glass industry conference, a round on the famous Torrey Pines golf course in January. By February, the world was talking about the Corona Virus known as Covid-19. March rolls around, and the world is locked down; no travel, work from home if you can. We were now in the middle of a pandemic the likes of this world hadn’t seen in a hundred years.
The United States was closing in on the last year of the Trump presidency, yet, we didn’t know if it would indeed be the end. Political parties in the U.S. had been descending into a larger divide than we had historically ever seen. Citizens of the U.S. followed along as families were torn apart by differing political views. Were we heading into the dismantling of our short Democracy experiment? The world was already being pulled by the rise of Right-Wing parties of many flavors when Covid-19 hit. To say this was a year of anxiety, and fear for many is an understatement. With children now unsure of when they would ever go back the school, Google Classroom and Zoom because of the tools of choice and us as workers.
I was tossed into a crisis point, the likes of the 2008 financial crisis. My leadership skills would be tested and grown yet again, as they did in that time. March, April, and May showed a fifty percent reduction in sales for my company; many enterprises in the U.S. folded up in those months, and an alarming number of Americans went on unemployment. However, I was very fortunate that all my employees and especially my Leadership Team rose to the occasion, and “pivot” was the word of the day. How could we change direction and come out of this having grown and survived?
From June to July, my company changed directions, looked to new markets, and we brought products off the shelf. We doubled down on successful marketing programs. From June to December, sales came back, and new markets were entered. In the end, we will finish close to what we did in 2019 for sales. But it wasn’t all bad. We grew as a team and can rightly say that our theme for 2021 is, “All systems go!”
2021 looks to be a fantastic year with how well we explored, grew, and strengthened our company’s base.
In October, I completed another Rebelle Rally, a huge success for my race team and myself. We finished in 9th place; our goal was to finish the top ten. There was pain and broken parts, but we performed well, and as a team, we excelled together. A huge success! A few weeks before the Rebelle, however, my house’s septic system decided to flow in the opposite direction. Flowing out over a considerable part of my ground floor resulted in months of cleanup and restoration. On the bright side, the renovations to the house I always wanted are happening, and my insurance company was kind enough to kick in a little for the effort.
Other events made the year the best of times. My 11-year-old son’s golf game took giant leaps, and it turns out he thrives on virtual meetings. His growth academically significantly grew.
I fell in love and was engaged. Wait; what? Yes, even in times of COVID and Zoom, love can find a way. The love of my life, Jamie Mansfield, entered my life. Showing me that love and partnership can be better than ever imagined.
Achievements & Highlights
· 50% of the goals I set out to achieve were completed
· Work on improving my Emotional Quotient went well, and my skills improved.
· Significant improvement in building better self-compassion.
· A year of brain study led me to some fantastic knowledge of how the brain works and how we can change its programming. Have to love Neuroscience!
· Successful implementation of the Entrepreneur Operating System into my company.
· Remodel at my house started, loving the results so far.
· 9th Place Rebelle Rally and a hell of a great time as usual.
· Love and Engaged to be married.
· Completion of IDEO’s Design Thinking Class
Lessons Learned
· Emotions & feelings need to be expressed.
· “Emotions and feelings derive from changes in our environment as reflected in what we believe and the stories (implicit bias) we tell ourselves to make sense of the world.”
· Have difficult conversations about direct report’s performance early.
· In a crisis, look for opportunity and growth
· Working virtually does work; it just takes new ways to engage
· Companies thrive on systems and structure for growth
Favorite Problems
· Can emotions not just be managed but evoked to take better action?
· Can we change our implicit biases?
· Is the quest for better productivity worth it?
Topics Studied
· Creating and using a Zettlekasten for study and writing.
· 3D Printing
· Communication
· Design Thinking
Notable Books Read
· Thinking, Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman
· Emotional Intelligence 2.0
· Leader Effectiveness Training L.E.T.
· Thank You for Arguing – Jay Heinrichs
· The Enigma Cube – Douglas Richards
· Seeker – Douglas Richards
· Difficult Conversations: How To Discuss What Matters Most – Douglas Stone
To Tackle Next Year - Personal
· Get my son into more golf tournaments.
· Back to podcasting with Limitless Curiosity
· Improve my Emotional Quotient/Emotional Intelligence
· Develop a more explicit growth strategy for while in crucible moments
· A better routine of meditation
· Routine of exercise
· Routine of writing
To Tackle Next Year – Leader/C.E.O.
· Get closer to E.O.S. Mastery
· I.C.D. Sustainability Committee
· Do more work around Girls in STEM
· Create a class curriculum on various topics
COVID-19 was a massive event for all of us and continues to impact us, probably for a very long time. There have been good and bad that has come of the pandemic. For a long time, our human behaviors will have been changed. Will these changes stick? Will we continue to embrace the virtual world, for example. Only time will tell.
For now, we can hope that 2021 is a better year for the world.